“AT&T’s ’sweetheart’ carrier subsidy (~$450) for the iPhone would not be attainable at Verizon,” said Marshall in the note. “[But] diverse carrier support is a key element in driving global penetration of the iPhone. We believe the chances are high the iPhone will find its way onto the Verizon network in the second half of 2010.”

When Apple does stop selling the iPhone for AT&T’s GSM network, Marshall predicts Apple will lose significant chunk of the subsidy money, from the $450 per home that AT&T is giving them to only $300 when the iPhone lands on Verizon. The $300 per phone will put the Verizon iPhone on the same plane as other smartphones in network deals. In the long run, Marshall believes Apple will gain by about $7 billion, selling about 14 million iPhone by 2011. It will be AT&T’s big loss to the tune of half a million subscribers every quarter.

“Everyone is dissatisfied with AT&T on the iPhone, not only on voice, but data as well, especially in congested cities like New York and San Francisco,” said Marshall, echoing complaints that go back more than two years to the launch of the original iPhone in the summer of 2007. “If Verizon starts selling the iPhone, AT&T is going to have an issue on their hands.”

[via computerworld]

It didn’t come from an Apple employee but an editor at New York Times.
Take his statement with a grain of salt, or head on over to Engadget for the video. The Nieman Journalism Lab has a transcript of what Keller said at the meeting. The relevant passage as follows:

Sixth, we need to figure out the right journalistic product to deliver to mobile platforms and devices. I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that.

Now, I’m sure he doesn’t know anything officially, but what about unofficially?

[NJL via engadget]

[nokia press release via unwiredview]

Don’t be surprised if one day you’ll no longer see Lite or Free versions of certain apps listed in the App Store. This is because Apple has finally lifted the restriction on free iPhone apps and in-app purchases. It used to be that paid apps where the only ones that were allowed to provide in-app purchases, but with this latest development, developers need not send a Full and Lite version of an app for listing at the App Store as they can already consolidate this as just one, a free iPhone app, with the option to purchase the full app later on. This will probably mean very little to majority of you iPhone owners out there, but let this just be a heads up that changes might be in the offing in the App Store as a result of this policy change.

[daring fireball via engadget]

For those not familiar with the whole jailbreaking process, both the iPhone Dev Team and Geohot use the 24kpwn exploit in the iPhone’s bootrom. Many feared it would be patched up in iPhone 3.0, but fortunately, it wasn’t. Now, Apple finally found the time to plug this hole up making new iPhone 3G S units immune to any of the jailbreaks currently available. Of course, it will only be a matter of time before an appropriate jailbreak for this new bootrom is cooked up, but this is definitely bad news for affected iPhone 3G S owners as it will surely take longer for one to be released to the public.

[via bgr]

Apple has just released iPhone firmware 3.1.2 which addresses issues concerning video streaming crashes, network service interruption, and inability to wake from sleep. Those of you who have been experiencing problems such as these on your iPhone will find this update most useful, but be forewarned jailbreaking aficionados, the iPhone Dev Team has already issued a strict warning. PwnageTool 3.1.3 and redsn0w are both still not compatible with iPhone OS 3.1.2. So if you dearly treasure your jailbroken and unlocked iPhone, it’s highly recommended you stay away from this update until further notice. However, if you’re already completely over jailbreaking and unlocking, then by all means, go ahead and hit the update button in iTunes and fire away.

[via engadget, iphone dev team]

The walls of exclusivity barring the iPhone from reaching greater heights are slowly falling down. A week after the Orange iPhone become official in the UK, it’s now confirmed that Bell and Telus have also secured a deal from Apple to distribute the both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S in Canada which used to be exclusive item on Rogers. Still no word on its pricing, but it will definitely be launched next month. This is definitely good news for Canadians as competition is always healthy in any market. Will the iPhone escape its exclusivity clause in your country next? There’s no definite answer right now, but given these recent events, it’s now highly possible which will no doubt help the iPhone market share improve by leaps and bounds. .

[telus via cellphones etc]

To further support speculation that a Macbooklet (aka new Macbook) is indeed in the works, Google Adsense has started posting ads of new Mac systems in the Netherlands with a dead link to the Apple Store in the country. Translated with the help of Google Translate, the ads read as follows:

“Apple’s Newest MacBook. Thinner, lighter and faster! Free delivery. Order today,”

and

“The Brand new iMac. Ultra Thin 20 & 24 inch models. From only €1099 (roughly $1,063). Apple Store,” and “Apple’s New Mac mini. Faster and more affordable than ever. From only € 499 ($723). Order immediately.”

Based on these ads, apart from a new Macbook, it appears that we’ve also got a new iMac and Mac Mini to look forward to in the near future. The question now is - when will Apple officially announce these new beauties? We don’t exactly know for sure right now, but rumor has it that it could happen as early as this Tuesday.

Rest assured, we’ll keep you guys posted if this holds true and gets launched this week.

[appleinsider via engadget]

The Apple App Store has reached a new milestone again as it surpasses the 2 billion mark in downloads. Actually, it was well on its way to achieving this amazing feat since it already had 1.5 million downloads to its name when it turned 1 back in July. Back then, there were a total of 65,000 apps available. Now, there are 85,000 iPhone apps ready for download. That’s a remarkable 20,000 mark up in a span of just a little under two months and a half. This just goes to show popular the iPhone and the App Store is for developers to distribute their apps. As far as close rival Palm is concerned, their App Catalog has managed to record a total of 1 million downloads after just 4 months of being open to the public. That’s impressive in its own right, but as we can see, it’s still got a long way to go to become a real threat to the Apple App Store.

[apple via bgr]

O2’s UK iPhone exclusivity is over. Orange is going to offer both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. No pricing has been announced for the Orange iPhone and the Apple phones is slated for a late-year outing. It’s Christmas this early in the UK.

Orange is owned by France Telecom.

[orange via engadget]